Calling all bridesmaids! Are you prepared for your best friend’s wedding day? Remember, your goal is to make sure your bride-to-be is not only the prettiest woman on the planet, but also the most relaxed bridechilla! This means you all have to take care of everything on the wedding day. So, what exactly do you all have to do? Here’s a list of all the roles you girls need to play on the wedding day. Divide these roles accordingly depending on how many you are. It will be a busy day! Read on and start assigning roles now.
[From: Restaurant Weddings are In! See This Couple’s Intimate Wedding Day at Ammo / Photo: Nikkiloveu]
Here’s a brief job duty summary which we will go through, one by one.
- ‘Personal Maid’ for the Bride
- Gold Keeper
- Laisee Keeper
- Decoration & Favors Tracker
- Tea Ceremony Leader
- Parents’ Assistant
- Reception Guest Ushers
- Game Masters
- Materials Manager
Can you guess who will be the busiest? Read on to find out.
[From: Endless Laughter and Tears of Joy Fill This Wedding at The Ritz Carlton, Hong Kong / Photo: Loaf Photography]
- ‘Personal Maid” of the Bride
From the name itself, it means that no matter what happens, you should stay close to the bride to fulfill her needs throughout the day. This role is usually assigned to the Maid of Honor. Examples of the things you will usually do include helping the bride while she changes or goes to bathroom, keeping her phone, and carrying her bouquet, shoes, dress train, etc.
[From: Endless Laughter and Tears of Joy Fill This Wedding at The Ritz Carlton, Hong Kong / Photo: Loaf Photography]
- Gold Keeper
This is a super important role! Surely, you know that the tea ceremony involves many gold gifts. Your role is to monitor and account for all these gifts. If possible, better assign two bridesmaids for this important role.
Here’s what you can do to better monitor all the gold gifts. If there’s time, try to ask all the parents and relatives to show you the gold before tea ceremony. You can then can take close-up pictures of each one and mark them with labels in advance. If not, you will need to do this during tea ceremony (which is the usual case).
The key photo during the tea ceremony is the group photo of the couple and relatives holding all the gold gifts. When tea ceremony is done, you will need to help the bride and groom take all the gold off, then count everything. Finally, assign someone to keep them safe as you all move on to the next set of wedding day activities. If there’s another round of tea ceremony during the lunch or dinner reception, yes, you will need to do everything again.
We know…. some couples have a long list for the tea ceremony. If there are many gold gifts, expect this task to be tiring. However, it’s best that you play it safe and check everything very well because every gold is money! You want to avoid any misunderstanding or argument after the wedding.
[From: This Couple Made Sure to Wear Masks That Complete Their Wedding Look / Photo: Redblue Creation]
- Laisee Keeper
There are so many laisees involved during the wedding day. The two key laisee types are, one to vendors, and the other from the tea ceremony. The couple can prepare all laisees for vendors in advance with vendors’ names written on each one. Then on the wedding day, all you’ll need to do is pass these on to each vendor. As for the laisees during the tea ceremony, you role includes marking the names of the relatives who gave each laisee on their respective laisees.
[From: An Elegantly Decorated Wedding Celebration at Hong Kong Gold Coast Hotel / Photo:
- Decoration and Favors Checker
More often than not, a decorations vendor will already ensure the wedding venue is ready. All you’ll need to do is to check that everything is in order. Sometimes, you will need to do some minor decoration setups, like the welcome table, if not already arranged by the decorations vendor. For the wedding favors, make sure to check that they are complete and then distribute them in all the tables.
[From: An Elegantly Decorated Wedding Celebration at Hong Kong Gold Coast Hotel / Photo:
- Tea Ceremony Leader
If you’re the leader of the tea ceremony, then you will take charge of all the preparations needed, including preparing the tea, AND CUPS! The common practice is for parents to use real cups, while the others are served paper cups.
First, boil water in advance and make sure the tea is warm. Then, pass the tea to the couple and give some blessings while they drink. Afterwards, get the cups back, and serve another round, again and again, until everyone is served. If the couple has hired a Chinese wedding master, then you will just need to prepare the tea and pass this to her.
[From: A Refreshing Peach and White Themed Garden Wedding at The Repulse Bay / Photo: Vision Philosophy]
- Parents’ Assistant
Basically, your role is to help the parents of the bride and groom with anything they need. The most common task is to help the moms change into their clothes–some moms even have more outfits than the bride! The moms’ dresses are usually made with zip up closures. This tends to be difficult to put on on their own. Sometimes, zippers even eat up the underwear. If the bride or groom has no siblings to help, go and help with this as well. In case the moms are unsure about which dress and accessories look best together, go ahead and help give some styling advise, too.
[From: Immense Joy and Anticipation Filled This Classic Wedding at Rosewood Hong Kong / Photo: Henry F]
- Reception Guest Usher
This wedding task is usually assigned to a family member because he or she will be able to identify most of the bride and groom’s relatives. However, he or she will still need some help, especially when guests arrive at the same time. You can help by passing the signing pens, giving out laisee packets, etc. The most important thing is help usher the guest to his or her assigned seat. If the bride and groom included a big seating plan signage, you can just direct the guests to if they still can’t fund their seats.
[From: A Refreshing Peach and White Themed Garden Wedding at The Repulse Bay / Photo: Vision Philosophy]
- Game Master
One of you will need to take charge of the Chinese Door Games, too. Pick out the most challenging ones for the groom and groomsmen! This is the perfect time to make the bride laugh, too. So keep in mind that aside from choosing games that will test the groom, think of how else you can make your bride enjoy this part of the wedding.
[From: This Couple Made Sure to Wear Masks That Complete Their Wedding Look / Photo: Redblue Creation]
- Materials Manager
The most crucial part of this role is when the whole wedding party chances from one venue to another–from the home to the hotel, from the ceremony to the reception, and so on. It will be perfect if the bride and groom already made a checklist of important wedding materials. If not, make sure to go to the bride and groom beforehand and list out all their materials. Then, come the wedding day, label everything and check everything before the wedding, during the wedding while moving venues, and at the end of the wedding.
So, do you now know who will be the busiest? The answer is…. the ‘Personal Maid’ of the Bride and the Gold Keeper!
As you may now know, these roles come with varying degrees of responsibility. For example, the first two are crucial roles, hence, only one bridesmaid should be assigned to each role. As for the other roles, you may talk among yourselves (and with the bride) to arrive at how you can share some roles so you can all work more efficiently.
Take note, too, that this article only includes main roles and responsibilities. There are many more tasks that might be asked for you—take many many guest photos with the bride and groom, help to carry things around, and more–so it’s best to be prepared for anything. After all, who wouldn’t want to help the bride?
It’s going to be a tiring day for all of you, bridesmaids, but once you see how happy your bride is, it will all be worth it!
